Hi Guys,

 

Parity 2 just red balled. Not sure if it's a loose cable or drive problem. Tried to run SMART reports, but nothing seems to happen. 

 

Diagnostics are attached. Any guidance would be appreciated. 

 

 

tower-diagnostics-20170815-1820.zip

Edited August 15, 20178 yr by newoski

Possibly a cable issue, but disk dropped offline so there's no SMART report, so reboot and get new diags.

PS: disk13 does need a new cable since there are a lot of CRC errors.

On 8/16/2017 at 3:26 AM, johnnie.black said:

Possibly a cable issue, but disk dropped offline so there's no SMART report, so reboot and get new diags.

PS: disk13 does need a new cable since there are a lot of CRC errors.

 

Thanks. I replaced the cables on both drives. I see far few CRC errors in the latest log, but still seeing some. Can you tell me which drives are getting the CRC errors, now? And also, where you're pulling that info from? I'm only seeing ATA references, but no drive names/serials in the log

tower-diagnostics-20170819-1749.zip

In the syslog beginning you see which is which, ata2 is disk13, still problems there:

 

Aug 19 14:16:54 Tower kernel: ata2.00: ATA-9: ST8000AS0002-1NA17Z,             Z840S3KD, RT17, max UDMA/133

 

Edited August 19, 20178 yr by johnnie.black

On 8/19/2017 at 6:00 PM, johnnie.black said:

In the syslog beginning you see which is which, ata2 is disk13, still problems there:

 

Aug 19 14:16:54 Tower kernel: ata2.00: ATA-9: ST8000AS0002-1NA17Z,             Z840S3KD, RT17, max UDMA/133

 

 

So I replaced the sata cables on both drives and the BadCRC errors disappeared completely for the last fefew weeks. Now, out of left field, the same drive just got errors again. No BadCRC errors, but I'm seeing I/O errors this time. Not sure what to try next... 

Help would be greatly appreciated

 

PS -- Since it's Parity2 that has errors, do I need to do anything drastic while problem solving? Or can I leave the Array alone and essentially operate with only 1 valid parity drive?

 

tower-diagnostics-20170905-1244.zip

Edited September 5, 20178 yr by newoski

Parity2 dropped offline so there's no SMART report, reboot and post new diags.

17 minutes ago, johnnie.black said:

Parity2 dropped offline so there's no SMART report, reboot and post new diags.

 

Hmmmm. So after reboot, the Parity2 disk is completely MIA. It doesn't show up as red balled nor does it show up at all as an unassigned device -- in unassigned devices or after stopping Array...

 

Where to from here? Should I post a Diagnostics or reseat cables and reboot to try to get that disk visible again?

Power off, check cables and power on.

Weird. So I reseated and rebooted. Drive still didn't show up anywhere. I swapped drive slots and rebooted again. Now it shows up when the Array is stopped, but it doesn't show up in Unassigned Devices. Would Diagnostics help in this scenario or do I need to get it to show up in Unassigned Devices first? 

I'm stumped

Post new diags, there should be a SMART report.

Attached. 

tower-diagnostics-20170905-1716.zip

SMART looks fine, since you already swapped slots re-sync parity and see if it holds up.

On 9/5/2017 at 5:26 PM, johnnie.black said:

SMART looks fine, since you already swapped slots re-sync parity and see if it holds up.

 

So the saga continues. After swapping parity slots back on the 5th, both parity drives were OK for about 2 weeks. Parity2 now redballed, which to me implies that it's something to do with that slot, not a hard drive. That said, I'm a bit uncertain how to proceed with regard to testing all the hardware in that chain.

 

1. Replace SATA cable to that drive and rebuild parity and see if issue is resolved, yes?

2. ?

3. ?

 

Diagnostics attached

tower-diagnostics-20170919-1220.zip

1. Replace cables

2. Connect the disk to a different controller (swap with another disks if needed)

4 minutes ago, johnnie.black said:

1. Replace cables

2. Connect the disk to a different controller (swap with another disks if needed)

Sorry, I should have specified... it's plugged into MOBO. SHould I put it onto different MOBO slot or onto cadr slot?

Different port on the motherboard it's enough for testing, specially if you swap with another disk, see if the issue stays with the disk or the port, but you can also a different controller.

So, my system has been rock solid until just the other day... had a drive red X on me.  Powered down, jiggled (technical term) the SATA cables in their respective connectors, powered on and had UnRAID rebuild they array.  All is now well.

 

Just wondering if this is a common problem?  Is there a specific brand of high quality SATA cables people recommend?

 

While I do try to do backups regularly, I am going to install a 2nd parity drive... just for added peace of mind during array rebuilds, that you aren't solely dependent on a single parity drive.

 

Thoughts?

Many around here would recommend a drive cage like this supermicro 5x3 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405

This would let you change drives without disturbing the cables.

 

Until I got my Norco 4224s I used them in all of my servers.

Edited September 21, 20178 yr by BobPhoenix

2 minutes ago, BobPhoenix said:

Many around here would recommend a drive cage like this supermicro 5x3 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405

This would let you change drives without disturbing the cables.

 

Until I got my Norco 4224s I used them in all of my servers.

 

I believe his question was about cables, not cages...

Just now, newoski said:

 

I believe his question was about cables, not cages...

True but the cage does a better job of allowing you to change drives without problems then a good cable any day.  Even with good cables changing drives can lead to drive problems with disturbed cables that a drive cage would prevent.

I'm not following. Anyway you slice it, whether the drives are in a cage -- which mine are -- or tethered in outerspace, you''ll still need cables to connect to MOBO or card

Yes sorry didn't realize you already had cages.  Many don't and then have problems when they change drives.  Most of those problems go away when they use a cage (like you have) because they are not disturbing cables just changing a drive.